Naughton Opens Lincoln Center's 'Songbook' With Newman Program

Actor and Singer Opens Concert Series with Randy Newman Selections

Performer James Naughton, right, rehearses with his son Greg.
Keith Bedford for The Wall Street Journal

By

Jennifer Weiss

Jan. 26, 2014 11:50 p.m. ET

The actor and singer James Naughton knows how good it feels to have a rapt audience.

At a recent performance in Fairfield, Conn., he hooked listeners with one line: "When Karl Marx was a boy."

Opening Randy Newman's song "The World Isn't Fair," and delivered in Mr. Naughton's baritone, the line drew laughs. "Then you know, they're hanging on your every word," he said.

"The World Isn't Fair," a reflection on communism from the 1999 album "Bad Love," is part of Mr. Naughton's all-Newman program when he opens Lincoln Center's "American Songbook" series, now in its 16th season. Tuesday's performance, in the Allen Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center, will be filmed for PBS's "Live From Lincoln Center" with a scheduled broadcast date of April 4.

Mr. Naughton, 68 years old, is a longtime presence on stage and screen. He won Tony Awards for his performances in "City of Angels" in 1990 and "Chicago" in 1997 and played the U.S. president in the CBS series "Hostages." For his coming concert, he has sought to strike a balance between Mr. Newman's humorous material, including "The Great Nations of Europe," and bluer numbers, such as "Every Time It Rains."

"These are deep thoughts, and they're very, very amusingly put," he said of the lyrics in another of Mr. Newman's darkly funny songs, "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)." "That's why I'm excited about the material. At the same time, he can turn around and write the most heartbreakingly beautiful songs, like 'Real Emotional Girl' or 'Marie.' "

Some of the ballads strike a new chord for Mr. Naughton, whose wife, Pamela, died of pancreatic cancer in April. He cared for her for the past four years at their Connecticut home, which is filled with photos of her, their two children and three grandchildren, and the many boldface names Mr. Naughton has worked with over the years.

Mr. Naughton sees himself first as an actor but has sung for much of his life. In the late '90s, he performed at a concert with the late jazz pianist George Shearing, who invited him over for what Mr. Naughton called an "extraordinary" afternoon of singing.

A week later, Mr. Naughton received an audio tape from Mr. Shearing with still more songs to learn. "When George Shearing put that amount of time into my singing, that's what kicked me into it," he said.

Mr. Naughton didn't sing on stage during his wife's illness, but he decided at some point that if he put together another show, it would consist of "story songs."

He had sung songs by Mr. Newman before, mixed in with tunes by of Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael and Tom Waits, but he was intrigued with the idea of an all-Newman program and in the fall broached the idea with his longtime collaborator, the pianist John Oddo.

Lincoln Center had already finished programming the 2014 American Songbook series when Mr. Naughton's agent called, but they added a date for him to open the season, said Jon Nakagawa, who is producing it with Charles Cermele. Mr. Naughton performed in the series in 2006 with son Greg and daughter Keira, and organizers had long been wanting to feature Mr. Newman's music.

"Because he's such a good actor, he really conveys the song, he really tells the story," Mr. Nakagawa said. He added, "Randy Newman is one of the best story songwriters of his generation, so to have them together was sort of a no-brainer for us."

Mr. Oddo, the concert's musical director, arranger and pianist, will be part of a five-piece band that includes Nate Brown on guitar, Jay Leonhart on bass, Dave Pietro on tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet and piccolo, and Dave Ratajczak on drums.

To prepare, Mr. Naughton has been working with a vocal coach, Jackie Presti, and reviewing recordings of himself in practice sessions that he captured on his iPhone.

The concert date was set in the fall. Mr. Naughton said it was good to have a project to work on and a target date to work toward during a difficult time.

"Being busy is helpful," he said. "And I've been very, very busy up until right now."

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